Irwin Marples VS. Stanley Sweetheart VS. Lie Nielsen Chisels

I wanted to show if an entry level or intermediate chisel set could be sharpened and tuned up to be as good or close to the level of a premium chisel like Lie Nielsen or Veritas. What are the differences, how do they compare, cut quality and how to sharpen. A common question is what is sharp and I briefly explain my sharpening process and results using these chisels.

[@roofermarc1]

I'm glad I sold all my old Stanley's and bought LN chisels. Next up is Blue spruce and some Japanese ones.

[@pcm9969]

Great video. I bought the Stanley Sweetheart 4 chisel set. 3 of the 4 sharpened up quite well, but the 1" was a bugger to flatten! It had a high spot on the back, which I understand is much harder to flatten than if it were cratelow in the center, and it took forever to flatten. It was a good learning experience for me to learn flattening and sharpening, but I think my next chisels will be either Narex Richter or Lie Nielsens.

[@markluke8447]

I like that tray you’re using for your sharpening kit. Can you tell me the size and where you found it?

[@jaimeroman2406]

I’m running to a box store right now to look for one. I liked it too.

[@MintStiles]

I feel like unless the chisel is the cheapest of the cheap (sub 55 Rcs), they shouldn't really be that much different during the first few cuts. Owning and restoring no less than 200 vintage chisels amongst my modern chisels, I can anecdotally claim that the difference is often in the feel and edge retention (depending on what you are cutting) vs sharpness. On softwood especially, where the keenness matters far more than edge durability, I feel like that based on that sound, your chisel hasn't found the sharpness for some reason. The end grain chips should break with no skips on a sharp chisel. On a properly sharpened chisel, even just on a hard Arkansas, it should feel and sound like cutting through thick plastic rather than wood. Your chips shouldn't have such large break profile and will appear waxy. Just some thoughts.

[@DKWalser]

I'm surprised that you did not remove the handle from the socket chisels for sharpening. The ability to do that is one of the primary reasons I prefer socket chisels.

[@jameswesleyfurniture]

Probably just a preference thing. I don't really have issues with my stone setup because it's elevated enough off of the table. It cleared using the glass in all but the Irwin

[@BroniusK]

Good day America. This is Lithuania. I want to know. What grit should I start using on a grindstone to prepare the correct chisel plane? And how many microns of metal can be ground off if the back of the chisel is not smooth? And do you need to grind the entire back of the chisel, that is, smooth it, or is it enough to grind halfway? I have Irwin 750 wood chisels and their backs are not straight, if you look at the whole length it looks like a convexity that shines through, but if you look at half the length, then the convexity is smaller and it is more even in half the length. P.S language is not corrected.

[@DKWalser]

What are your thoughts on the shape of the chisels? But for the thickness of the edges of the chisels, I like the Stanley Sweethearts. To my eye, the edges are too thick, which make the chisels difficult to use for paring the inside corner of dovetails. They're just fine for most other bench chisel tasks.

[@jameswesleyfurniture]

I've not had any issues that I paid attention to. If it felt clunky to me, I may reach for a smaller chisel or skewed chisel in my shop. I do believe the Irwin felt very large and didn't really compare to the Stanley or lie nielsen

[@slanwar]

Lie Nielsen is made in USA about Irwin and Stanley? Some Irwin chisels are made in UK and they are really good.

[@dylanneely91]

Unfortunately I don't believe any irwins are made in the uk anymore

[@jameswesleyfurniture]

I'm not sure at all, I really went off of price point labeling them as entry or mid level and premium

[@jameswesleyfurniture]

Very interesting and I believe it's probably a very complex reason why there are so many variables in the pricing

[@usnchief1339]

I've learned over time by wasting time and $...save and get the best. Quality over quantity, always.

[@BroniusK]

And I still have a question. In your video, I saw Shapton glass 500. But we don't have them for sale in Lithuania, but they are available from other Japanese manufacturers, such as Naniwa and Suehiro (and this is an incomplete list of products). So the question is this. Which sharpening stone grit is better to use if there is no 500, 400 grit or 600 grit?

[@B_COOPER]

It really wouldn’t matter.

[@DrJuan-ev8lu]

Plastic backed abrasive sheets don't curl up and become s nuisance. This type usually comes with scary sharp type sharpening kits.

[@ifell3]

Scares me you are leaving those chisels on the corner like that, can you please move them to the middle of the bench 😂